Revelation 14-
VERSE
13. And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed
are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that
they may rest from their labors; and their works do follow them.
14. And I looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon the
cloud one sat like unto the Son of man having on his head a golden crown, and
in his hand a sharp sickle. 15. And another angel came out of
the temple, crying with a loud voice to him that sat on the cloud, Thrust in
thy sickle, and reap: for the time is come for thee to reap; for the harvest of
the earth is ripe. 16. And he that sat on the cloud thrust in
his sickle on the earth; and the earth was reaped.
(Excerpt from Daniel
and Revelation by Uriah Smith 1897-1911)
A Solemn Crisis.
- Events grow solemn as we near the end. It is this fact which gives to
the third angel's message, now going forth, its unusual degree of solemnity and
importance. It is the last warning to go forth prior to the coming of the Son of
man, here represented as seated upon a white cloud, a crown upon his head, and
a sickle in his hand, to
p 677 -- reap the
harvest of the earth. We are fast passing over a line of prophecy which
culminates in the revelation of the Lord Jesus from heaven in flaming fire, to
take vengeance on his foes, and to reward his saints. Not only so, but we have
come so near its accomplishment that the very next link in the chain is this
crowning and momentous event. And time never rolls back. As the river does not
flinch and fly as it approaches the precipice, but bears all floating bodies
over with resistless power; and as the seasons never reverse their course, but
summer follows in the path of the budding fig-tree, and winter treads close
upon the falling leaf; so we are borne onward and onward, whether we will or
not, whether prepared or not, to the unavoidable and irreversible crisis. Ah!
how little dream the proud professor and the careless sinner of the doom that
is impending! And how hard for even those who know and profess the truth to
realize it as it is!
A Blessing Promise.
- John is commanded by a voice from heaven to write, "Blessed are
the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth;" and the response of the
Spirit is, "Yea, that they may rest from their labors; and their works do follow
them." "From henceforth" must signify from some particular
point of time. What point? - Evidently from the commencement of the message in
connection with which this is spoken. But why are those who die after this
point of time blessed? There must be some special reason for pronouncing this
benediction upon. them. Is it not because they escape the time of fearful peril
which the saints are to encounter as they close their pilgrimage? And while
they are thus blessed in common with all the righteous dead, they have an
advantage over them in being, doubtless, that company spoken of in Dan.12:2,
who are raised to everlasting life at the standing up of Michael. Thus,
escaping the perils through which the rest of the 144,000 pass, they rise, and
share with them in their final triumph here, and occupy with them their
pre-eminent place in the kingdom. 1 In this way, we
understand, their
1 -- Those who die
after having become identified with the third angel's message, are evidently
numbered as a part of the 144,000; for this message is the same as the sealing
message of Revelation 7, and by that message only 144,000 were sealed. But there
are many who have had their entire religious experience under this message, but
have fallen in death. They die in the Lord, and hence are counted as sealed;
for they will be saved. But the message results in the sealing of only 144,000;
therefore these must be included in that number. Being raised in the special
resurrection (Dan. 12:2; Rev. 1:7) which occurs when the voice of God is
uttered from the temple, at the beginning of the seventh and last plague (Rev.
16:17; Joel 3:16; Heb. 12:26), they pass through the period of that plague, and
hence may be said to come "out of great tribulation" (Rev. 7:14), and
being raised from the grave only to mortal life, they take their stand with
believers who have not died, and with them receive immortality at the last
trump (1 Cor. 15:52), being then, with the others, changed in a moment, in the
twinkling of an eye. Thus, though they have passed through the grave, it can be
said of them at last, that they are "redeemed from among men" (Rev. 14:4),
that is, from among the living; for the coming of Christ finds them among the
living, waiting for the change to immortality, like those who have not died,
and as if they themselves had never died.
p 678 -- works
follow them: these works are held in remembrance, to be rewarded at the
judgment; and the persons receive the same recompense that they would have had,
had they lived and faithfully endured all the perils of the time of trouble.
It will be noticed
that in this line of prophecy, three angels precede the Son of man on the white
cloud, and three are introduced after that symbol. The opinion has already been
expressed that literal angels are engaged in the scenes here described. The
first three have charge of the three special messages, and may also symbolize a
body of religious teachers. The message of the fourth angel is evidently to be
uttered after the Son of man, having finished his priestly work, takes his seat
upon the white cloud, but before he appears in the clouds of heaven. As the
language is addressed to Him who is seated upon the white cloud, having in his
hand a sharp sickle ready to reap, it must denote a message of prayer on the
part of the church, after their work for the world is done and probation has
ceased, and nothing remains but for the Lord to appear and take his people to
himself. It is doubtless the day-and-night cry spoken of by our Lord in Luke
18:7, 8 in connection with the coming of the Son of man. And this prayer will
be answered; the elect will be avenged; for does not the parable read,
"And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto
him?" He that is seated upon the cloud will thrust in his sickle, and the
saints, under the figure of the wheat of the earth, will be gathered into the
heavenly garner.
The Wheat Garnered.
- "And he that sat on the cloud," says the prophecy, "thrust in
his sickle on the earth; and the earth was reaped." By this language we
are carried down past the second advent, with its accompanying scenes of destruction
p 679 -- to the
wicked and salvation to the righteous. Beyond these scenes we must therefore
look for the application of the following verses: -
VERSE 17. And
another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, he also having a sharp
sickle. 18. And another angel came out from the altar, which
had power over fire; and cried with a loud cry to him that had the sharp sickle,
saying, Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the
earth; for her grapes are fully ripe. 19. And the angel
thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and
cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God. 20. And
the winepress was trodden without the city, and blood came out of the
winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by the space of a thousand and six
hundred furlongs.
The last two angels
have to do with the wicked, - the wicked, most fitly represented by the bloated
and purple clusters of the vine of the earth. May it not be that the closing
doom of that class at the end of the thousand years is here presented, the prophecy
thus making a final disposition of both the righteous and the wicked; the
righteous clothed with immortality, and safely established in the kingdom, the
wicked perishing around the city at the time of its ultimate location upon the
earth?
This can hardly be
applied at the time of the second advent; for events are here given in
chronological order; and the destruction of the wicked would be contemporaneous
with the gathering of the righteous. Again, the living wicked at Christ's
coming drink of the "cup"of his indignation; but this passage brings
to view the time when they perish in the "winepress" of his wrath,
which is said to be trodden "without the city," answering completely
to the description of Rev. 20:9; and this latter expression would more
naturally denote their complete and final destruction.
The angel comes out
of the temple, where the records are kept and the punishment is determined. The
other angel has power over fire. This may have some connection with the fact
that fire is the element by which the wicked are at last to be destroyed, although,
to carry out the figure, the wicked, having been likened to the clusters of'
the vine of the earth, are said to be cast into the great winepress, which is
trodden without
p 680 -- the city.
And blood comes out of the winepress, even to the horses' bridles. We know that
the wicked are doomed to be swallowed up at last in a flood of all-devouring
flame descending from God out of heaven; but what preceding slaughter may take
place among the doomed host, we know not. It is not improbable that this
language will be literally fulfilled. As the first four angels of this series
denoted a marked movement on the part of the people of God, the last two may
denote the same; for the saints are to have some part to act in meting out and
executing the final punishment of the wicked. I Cor. 6:2; Ps. 149:9.
The Saints
Triumphant. - Thus closes this chain of prophecy - closes as others close, with
the complete triumph of God and Christ over all their foes, and with the
glorious salvation that awaits the faithful followers of the Prince of life,
forever secured.
*******
1Co 6:2 Do ye not know that the saints shall judge
the world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge
the smallest matters?
1Co 6:3 Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how
much more things that pertain to this life?
Psa 149:9 To execute upon them the judgment written:
this honour have all his saints. Praise ye the LORD.
Truth. Our worth is
found only in Christ Jesus our Lord, this is truth.
We know what is to
come as if we are truly looking through a glass darkly.
1Co 13:12 For now we see through a glass, darkly; but
then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am
known.
We know in
part. We know what, by the grace of God,
we are allowed to know. May the Holy Spirit give us FULL understanding of ALL
we need to know, may the eye salve infuse our eyes with spiritual sight that we
need in these very last day.
All by the grace,
the mercy, the will of our God, and our Savior, Jesus Christ, our Lord now and
forever, amen!
No comments:
Post a Comment